Scarlett
by YuriFan300
Summary: A red haired girl named Scarlett embarks on a dangerous journey to confront an empress who purposely blamed her for killing her parents. Starring Shana as Scarlett.
1. Revenge

**Scarlett**

**Genre: Adventure/Drama**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Shakugan no Shana or any of its characters**

**Full Summary: **After being purposely blamed for killing her parents, Scarlett is sent to the arena as a death sentence. But she knows that someone else killed them, the empress of Avalon, so she embarks on a dangerous journey to find the murderer. However, this journey isn't going to be easy, for she has to face fearsome warriors that come her way. Starring Flame Haze Shana as Scarlett.

**Author's note: ** **Hey there. My name is YuriFan300. This is my first Shana fanfic. I'm kind of basing it off of a movie called "Gladiator", so things might be a little unusual from the original series. I love the Flame Haze Shana because she can be so powerful, so I'm using her as the main protagonist and possibly base this story from her life before she became the flame haze. Anyways, please enjoy the story.**

**Chapter 1**

**Revenge**

Scarlett. That's the name I remember. I don't know where the name came from or how I got that name. Maybe it's because of my long hair that's red as fire. Or one of my parents gave it to me. Whatever it is, it doesn't seem to be my real name for some reason. Scarlett is not my real name. What is my real name then? Who am I?

* * *

><p>One late afternoon, I walk into the coliseum, hearing loud cheers from the crowd above me, with my sword and shield, shaped like a large rectangle, ready. The person opposite of me is a muscular man with a battle-axe and a shield that's bigger than mine, shaped like a huge square. Both of us walk toward each other to the center of the ring.<p>

"This is your execution," the man growls.

"We shall see," I reply, coldly.

I was told a minute ago that this man's name is Rick and he's a pretty tough guy to beat. I can prove him wrong because I've been doing swordsmanship for a long time, even before I entered this arena. Rick and I readied our weapons, making the crowd cheer loudly. In this coliseum, the rules are slightly different than what others do in the arena. Here, we just simply knock out our opponents, not kill them, unless it's necessary. Otherwise, having so much blood in this arena is enough to make people sick, and having to clean it up overnight.

Rick starts off the battle by swinging his axe to the left. I quickly dodge it with ease. He then tries to hit me by swinging the opposite direction. I duck just in time and dive roll under his legs and swing my sword, leaving a huge cut on his back. He quickly turns around as I try to strike again, but he blocks my attack with his shield. He tries swinging at me again, only this time, he spins 360 degrees and takes a strike at me. I duck again, spin to the right and strike his left arm, leaving another huge cut. He turns around and blocks my attack yet again as I try to strike him. Just then, the crowd starts chanting as he takes a few steps backward while tapping his shield with his axe. I'm guessing that's a sign for him to come at me. However, I already raised my shield to defend myself.

Rick starts to take a step forward and prepares to strike me by swinging his weapon upward. But he hits my shield instead, causing him to stumble back, stunned. I use his vulnerability to swiftly kick him to the face and strike his leg a few times. Rick stumbles back and slowly recovers. He seems to be weakened because of his heavy breathing and lots of sweat from his body. He weakly tries to hit me, but I quickly dodge and jump over him. As he turns around, I bash him on the chest with my shield. Rick finally falls to the ground and I wait for a few seconds. One . . . two . . . three . . .

I relax my stance and raise my weapon high. "Hmph! Is that all you have?" I say, coldly. The crowd gives a thunderous applause as they cheer loudly. This battle has been my victory.

* * *

><p>I exit the coliseum a few minutes later after sheathing my sword and strapping the shield on my back. I've been fighting all afternoon and it made me so exhausted that I wanted to sleep right away. I walk into a little cottage by a lake that's a couple of miles from the arena. I had to live on my own now because of the incident, so they built this cottage for me just close to the arena. Don't get me wrong. I didn't want to do this in the first place.<p>

After a nice warm bath, I put on my nightgown and walk over to my bed, but not before gazing at the picture of my parents when they first got married. It was all I had left when the incident occurred and everything else was destroyed. So I secretly brought that with me when I came to live in this cottage. I gazed at the frame for a few more seconds and then I fall asleep after turning off my lamp. Tomorrow will be another day of fighting, so I have to be ready. Unfortunately, I've been having nightmares lately, so it was hard for me to sleep well during the night. Like right now, I'm starting to have that weird dream again.

The dream started out nice when I was with my parents. I was an only child back then, but all of us had a great life together. We laughed, played and spent lots of time together. I can even remember the time when the three of us went to the park and had a nice picnic together and the time when my father was training me the ways of swordsmanship. My father was an expert at sword fighting and had been learning it from his own father when he was a little boy. So whenever he had free time, he would teach me little by little about swordsmanship. My mom was just normal and was often cleaning around the house and cooking. Yes, my life with my parents was the best.

However, my dream suddenly turns into a nightmare. It started when both of my parents were tucking me in bed and kissing me goodnight. I smiled at them and fell fast asleep. But then, minutes later, some noises woke me up. There was shouting and clattering at the same time. I knew that it was a bad sign. Just then, my father burst into the room with two swords in his hands.

"Scarlett!" he shouted. "You have to hide! Some bad men are trying to find you! Here! Use this to protect yourself, but you need to hide quickly!" He handed me the sword, ran off and slammed the door shut. I quickly hid under the bed with my sword in hand. I can still hear shouting and clanging of swords while I hid, but I couldn't make out what's going on. Just then, I heard my mom scream in pain, meaning that she might've been killed. I then heard my father curse angrily and clanging of swords start again. But the clanging was short lived. I heard footsteps that are getting closer and closer to my room. Trembling in fear, I moved further back in my bed, hoping that they wouldn't find me.

There was banging on the door, making me even more scared. I clutched my sword tightly as the banging continued. The door soon falls over and I can see black boots start moving. I tried not to make a sound as the boots start wandering around the room. I thought to myself, _Please don't look under the bed! Please don't look under the bed!_ I had never been so scared in my life. Just then, I heard Father come in the room and both of the men start fighting. Clanging of swords was heard again as Father tried to defend me. He knocked the man off his feet and was about to kill him when I heard Father groan in pain. I stare wide eyed as I see drops of blood fall on the floor. As he fell, I saw his face wide eyed and mouth open.

I awoke with a shock when that happened. Breathing heavily, I look around the room to see if I'm safe and that no one comes bursting into the cottage and wrecking it.

After a minute, I let out a long sigh of relief as I place my hand on my forehead. I take a glance at the clock, which says 1:00 A.M. The dream I had was the horrible memory of when my parents were murdered. I've been having that stupid dream for 5 nights and I can't seem to get my min off of it. It's been 2 years since that happened. But that's not all. Things got worse after my parents were murdered. First, the men had left the house completely destroyed after a frustrating search for me. What did they want from me anyway? Why do they want to capture me? I looked around the house after making sure the men had completely left. There were some walls that have huge holes, knocked down furniture, broken windows and glass and so on. Then, I looked at my deceased parents, lying there in front of me. Clutching my sword in my hands, I cried over their death.

The next morning was really bad. After what had happened last night, I woke up to find that people were surrounding my house, giving each other questionable looks. Most of them were glaring at me. At first I wondered if I did anything wrong, which I haven't because I was hiding under the bed the whole time. But once I realized that I had been sleeping next to my deceased parents last night, I knew what they were talking about.

Just then, a beautiful woman with two of her guards by her side showed up. I'm guessing she's the empress, judging by the clothing she wears. I wondered why she's here. She had long white hair with a side bang that covered her left eye and was wearing purple clothing. A couple of people were asking her what the heck had happened and why she didn't do anything.

The empress answered, "I believe that red-haired girl needs to learn some manners. I didn't know she would have the intention to kill her parents in the first place."

Her answer not only made me furious, but so did the people. Why in the world would she put the blame on me when it wasn't even my fault!? Sure, I held the sword in case I needed to protect myself, but I never used it to kill my parents! It was all the empress's doing! But I didn't get to defend myself because I knew that the evidence was right in front of them: a little blood on my body, me holding the sword, my deceased parents lying on the ground and the wrecked house. They were probably thinking I have issues and I need to get over it.

Since then, the empress decided to throw me into the arena as a death sentence, seeing how long I can survive by battling each warrior. I've been doing this for 2 years now and I don't know how I manage to survive this long. Usually, people wouldn't last a month trying to survive in the arena. I'm guessing my athletic ability and swordsmanship had improved a lot over the years. After all, my father was one of the best swords man in the world.

But now, I'm sick of it. All of it. Despite the fact I lived this long, I still can't stand it. Being in the arena and having to fight all day is just a pain in the butt! Most of all, getting blamed for something I didn't do is stupid. The empress needs to be taught a lesson and I know just how to do it. I heard about a place called the Empire Capital that is very, very far from where I live. I'm guessing that's where the empress lives, so it might take a while to get there. I'll be going to that place to avenge my parents starting tomorrow. Besides, no one would believe me if I tried to prove my innocence anyway. I think it's time to end this once and for all and no one is stopping me!

* * *

><p><strong>AN: This might be a boring chapter, but I promise it'll get better soon. Feel free to give out any suggestions, questions or concerns and don't forget to review! ;)**


	2. Escape!

**Chapter 2**

**Escape!**

Early the next morning, I wake up, feeling a little fatigued. Having that same dream over and over is tiring and hard to forget. Anyway, I need to find a way to escape and get to the Empire Capital. But it's not going to be easy when there are guards standing at the entrance, so I'll have to find another way. But how?

After showering and getting dressed, I walk outside for a bit to get some fresh air. I usually wear a green shirt with a black skirt and boots during fights in the arena. I rarely wear any other clothing since I have to fight all day, so I mostly wear those during the day. Once outside, I take a deep breath, smelling the beautiful aroma of the grass and river. Ah, smells refreshing. I look up at the sky and notice that there are dark gray clouds above me. Huh. It seems like it's going to rain soon. I sigh heavily as I go inside and cook myself some breakfast. I have to be at the arena by 9:00 and it's already 7:00. In the meantime, I already have a perfect plan to escape and get to Empire Capital to reach the empress.

I finish breakfast, wash dishes and make a few adjustments before leaving and locking the cottage. I walk down the tan-colored path that leads to the arena. So, I think I can make it in time. Every day, I wake up early at 6:00, so that I can get myself ready to walk to the arena, which by the way takes me two hours to get there. I don't really mind walking all the way there, but it's two freaking miles from the cottage! I always wondered why they built the cottage here than maybe at least close to the arena. Then, I wouldn't have to waste so much energy walking over there. But building this cottage at this location was the empress's idea, not mine.

I'm about half-way there when I feel a drop on my head. I look at the dark grayish clouds and realize that it's going to rain, so I start to run, hoping to speed things up getting to arena. I begin to see more and more drops of rain pour down on me as I run. _Oh, shoot!_ I think._ Why does it have to rain now!? _This is not the first time I had a rainy day while fighting in the arena. The worst time I ever fought in the rain was during an endless rainstorm. Rain poured down on everybody like a bunch of water balloons and the ground was getting muddy very quickly. I had a rough battle with one opponent and it didn't end so well. I may have defeated my opponent, but I had so much mud all over me I had to wash it over night. It took hours to get it cleaned up and I was not happy about it. I definitely didn't want to get dirty during my escape, so I'll have to make it quick.

I arrive at the coliseum in the nick of time. The guards close the doors behind me as I make my way to the center of the arena. I can hear the crowd cheering above me as I look up at them. They didn't seem to mind the rain, considering they have raincoats and umbrellas. I then look to the person opposite of me, who turns out to be another muscular man, only with some silver armor, a big sword and shield that's shaped like a circle. Both of us walk toward each other to the center of the ring, readying our weapons. I'm guessing my opponent's name is Clyde and he looks tough and strong. That won't stop me from beating him.

"Let the show begin!" Clyde shouts, raising his sword in the air towards the crowd.

"Less talking, more fighting," I say, bluntly as I wave my sword around as a little warm up for myself.

"You're on, little girl!" Clyde growls. He starts to take a few steps to the side, stops and then, he quickly spins 360 degrees, preparing to strike at me with a strong force.

I, however, had already raised my shield to defend myself. His sword hit it so hard that I begin to slide on the ground a few feet, but tried to hold my ground. Wow! Thank goodness I reacted in time, otherwise I would've been dead meat! It's not the first time I've seen a move like that, though. I have most opponents who are slightly more advanced that I am use powerful moves to defeat me, but nevertheless, I was still undefeated.

With a burst of energy, I jump high in the air, raise my sword and slash him on his left side, hard. Clyde screams in pain and stumbles back a little. I try striking at him again, but he blocks my attack with his shield. Enraged, he tries to strike back by swinging his sword diagonally downwards with great force. I dodge it of course and parry his next attack after. The next parry makes him stunned, so I use this advantage to bash him with my shield. Clyde falls to the muddy ground and I wait for a few seconds. One . . . two . . . three . . .

I relax my stance and raise my weapon high. "Hmph! Victory is mine," I say coldly. The crowd gives a thunderous applause as they cheer loudly.

_Now's my chance_, I think to myself. I exit the ring and enter the doors. My next opponent should be ready in a few minutes, but what he doesn't know is that I won't be there this time.

Looking around, I tip-toe around the hall to make sure the guards aren't around. When I feel that the coast is clear, I grab a ladder and set it on the wall. Recently, I found that there's a big hole in the wall that neither the guards nor anybody else know about, so this will be a perfect escape route.

Once I was on the other side of the wall, I cautiously try to climb down the bricks. It's pretty high from where I climbed, so it might take a while to get to the bottom. My hands were already sweating from nervousness, so I better be careful not to slip. Reaching out to next available brick, I grab it and move my foot to the next brick very carefully. I repeat the process until I notice someone circle around the coliseum. As I look closely, I realize that it's one of the guards! _Dang it!_ I yell at myself mentally. _That son of a biscuit's guarding around this area, too!?_ I never knew that there was another guard that walks around the arena to keep watch also! Ever! I'm such an idiot!

Unfortunately, as soon as I looked at him, he notices me, too and gasps. I stare at him in surprise as he takes out a bell and yells, "ESCAAAAAAAAPED!" He rings his bell in the air, letting his fellow guards know where he is. I figured he's using them for back up, so I hurriedly climb down until I get about 10 feet from the ground.

"In the name of the empress, I order you!" one of the guards command.

Another guard points his sword in my direction. "She's down this way!"

I jump down and run as fast as I could to distance myself from the guards. However, an arrow shoots down right in front of me, almost hitting my foot. I look up to notice 5 archers on top of the wall of the arena.

"We got you now, Scarlett!" one of them shouts.

"You'll never get away from us!" another archer adds as he fires his bow.

I, however, raise my shield to block the arrow and continue running for my life. The heavy rain is blinding me as I go, but I could care less than being pursued by those freaks. Arrows shoot past me from behind as I look back. Oh, no! The guards are right on my tail! And I can't fight them all because I'm totally outnumbered! Just then, I notice a big forest ahead of me. Maybe this will confuse them if I pick a hiding place from there. I quickly sprint to the forest with the guards following close behind.

"You can't hide!" one of the guards shouts.

I ignore him as I continue to flee. I need to hide quickly, but where!? There's not much time to think. I quickly look around for a good hiding spot, but none of them are useful to me. All there is are just trees and logs. Wait, logs? That's it! If I find one that's large enough for me to fit, the guards wouldn't even know I'm there! Turning around, I find a large tree branch and pull on it hard. As the guards were coming at me, I release the branch, causing it to swing right at them. It successfully hits them, making them distracted enough for me to quickly hide in a large log I found from my left. Fortunately, there's a small hole on the log, so I get a chance to see what's going on.

The guards stop and look around. "Hey! Where the heck did she go!?" Guard #1 asks, angrily. He glares at his men. "Were either of you paying attention!?"

"We were, sir," Guard #2 replies. "B-but she was too fast for us!"

"Well, try looking for her, stupid!" Guard #1 yells.

"Right away, sir!" all of his men say in unison.

They start searching high and low, but with no luck. I giggle silently to myself as I witness this. They're never going to find me.

After a while, the guards look like they gave up and start to leave. I wait for them until they're out of sight and then crawl out of the log. I couldn't believe I fooled them that easily . . . or so I thought.

"Finally found you," a male voice sneers in my ear.

Right when I turn around, I get elbowed in the gut and punched so hard that I stumble to the ground, feeling really dizzy. I look up to see that one of the remaining guards is still out here. How could I have been so blind to not see that!? The guard has a sword in his hand and is smiling evilly at me.

"You shouldn't have escaped, young lady," he whispers menacingly, almost like an evil villain. "Now I have to do what's ordered from the empress." He raises his sword. "You must die . . . Scarlett!"

I find that I'm too weak to move away, plus my vision is getting more blurry, so I guess I'm done for. But before the guard could kill me, an arrow shoots down from nowhere and nails him right in the heart. He drops his sword and falls face down, dead. I try looking around to see who did it, but I'm still too weak to move, let alone see anything. I lie down on the ground as I start to close my eyes. But right before I do, I see a man with short dark brown hair and wearing large brown coat comes to my aid and help me up. Another man with a bow runs by his side to see if he needed any help.

The brown haired man that's hold me says, "Go! Get the others over here!"

The other man nods and runs off.

"Don't worry, miss," he says, gently. "Help is on the way."

I blink a few times before I weakly nod and everything goes black.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hey! I'm glad you liked the last chapter so far! :) That makes me very happy! I'll post the next chapter in a flash! In the meantime, feel free to give out any suggestions, questions or concerns and don't forget to review! ;)**


	3. A Kind Family

**Chapter 3**

**A Kind Family**

I wake up to the sound of sizzling and the wonderful smell of food. I find myself in a house, lying on a tan colored couch under a blanket. I slowly sit up and feel pain on my head. Man, that guard hit me hard!

"Oh, you're awake!" a little girl says.

I turn to my right to notice a girl with long blonde hair that's tied in two twin braids and wearing a gray sweatshirt and blue jeans. Her attitude seems very happy and cheerful.

"Where am I? I ask the girl.

"You're in my father's home," she replies. "He was the one who saved you from that scary man."

As soon as she said that, I recall the events that happened before I passed out. I nod in understanding as I smile at her.

"Here, I'll go get him right now!" She happily skips off to another room. "Daddy! Daddy! She's awake!" I hear her from the other room.

A few seconds later, the girl comes back with the same exact man that I saw before I passed out. He is now dressed in a gray sweat shirt and black pants. He looks at me and smiles.

"Hello, miss," he says. His voice is so soothing that it relaxes me a little. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yes," I reply softly. "Thank you for saving me."

"No problem," the man says. "I saw that you were struggling to survive out there, plus that man was about to kill you. Thank goodness on e of my brothers had a bow and arrow with him, or else you would've been toast."

"Your brothers?" I ask in confusion.

"Oh, my Uncle Tommy is an archer, so he always carries his bow with him for self-defense," the girl explains.

"I see," I say.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the man says. "I forgot to introduce myself." He holds out his hand. "My name is Mike Centers and this is my daughter, Clarisse."

"Hello!" Clarisse says, happily.

"My name is Scarlett," I reply as I grip Mike's hand. "Just Scarlett."

"What a wonderful name," Mike says, smiling. "I guess that name comes from your long red hair, right?"

"You could say that," I say. "But I keep feeling that it's not me."

"What do you mean?" Mike raises his eyebrow in confusion.

"Every day, I feel like 'Scarlett' is not my real name," I explain. I almost feel like I'm someone before that, but I can't seem to remember what it is."

Mike rubs his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm . . . so what you're saying is that you don't know who you really are and want to find out about yourself?"

I nod.

"Hmm . . . I don't know if I can help you with that," he says, sadly. "But don't worry. I'm sure something will jog your memory."

"Yes!" Clarisse agrees. "Even we might learn something about you that we don't know about either!"

I smile at them. "Thank you." Clarisse and her father are so kind to me. I never had that kind of treatment before, considering that I had to be in the arena all the time. But I realized that there are also good people in the world and Clarisse and her father are one of them. I'll have to repay them sometime later.

"Breakfast is ready," Mike calls.

Clarisse and I go to the table and serve ourselves some pancakes with maple syrup and sausage. As everyone starts eating, I stare down at the plate for a moment. Clarisse seems to take notice.

"What's wrong?" she asks. "Your food's going to get cold if you don't eat."

"Well, it's just that . . . I never ate pancakes in a long time," I say, nervously. To be honest, it's really nice to have food that's this good instead of the same old food for 2 years.

"Well, this is your chance!" Clarisse raises the pancake in the air with her fork. "Besides, they taste really great, so let's eat!"

"Alright," I cut the pancake into one small square and take a bite of it. I close my eyes as I enjoy the taste. "Mm! It's so good."

"Ha, ha! I told you!" Clarisse teases.

"There's more on the big plate if you girls want seconds," Mike says as he takes a bite of his own.

"Oh, yes. Thank you," I say smiling. I'm really glad that they were kind enough to let me stay and eat with them, even though it's 10:00 in the morning. But somehow, I feel that something's missing in this house. I look around and notice that their mother is not here.

"Clarisse," I say, "Where's your mother?"

She falls silent for a bit as she stops eating. I have a feeling that this is something serious and maybe she doesn't want to talk about it, considering the sad look on her face. Her father has that same expression.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I apologize. "I didn't mean to bring that up. I was just curious."

"No, it's fine," Mike says. "We haven't spoken about her for a while now."

"Yes," Clarisse nods in agreement.

I give them a worried look. "May I as what happened to your mother?"

There is silence for a bit, almost making me regret asking the question. Then, Clarisse finally says, "My mom . . . passed away . . . from an illness."

I gasp at Clarisse's answer. "Oh, my goodness! When did that happen?"

"It was years ago," Mike replies sadly. "When Clarisse was about 3 years old, her mother was suffering from a terrible disease. None of us knew why and she eventually grew worse as time passed by. And then, one day . . . she died about 6:00 in the morning." He hangs down his head, as if he's remembering it like yesterday.

"After that," he continues. "Clarisse and I would visit her grave once in a while. We will never forget her and the wonderful times we've shared."

I stay silent as I begin to think of my own parents and the fun times we've shared. It's not easy when the ones you love are gone and try not to think about it. "I'm so sorry for the loss of your mother," I say, sympathetically. "I bet it was very hard for you."

"It was," Clarisse says. "But we always think about her every day." She pauses for a second as if to change the subject. "Where are your parents, Scarlett?"

I gasp softly at the question as I look around elsewhere. Is it really alright to tell them about the murder and how I was purposely blamed for it? After all, I've never really trusted anyone before, so this might be my chance. Besides, they let me stay at their home, so I guess I could trust them.

"My . . ." I say, softly. "My parents passed away as well."

"What happened?" Mike asks.

"They were murdered," I reply. "By the empress and her men."

"Oh, my!" Clarisse gasps. "Why would they do that?"

"That's what I like to know," I reply, recalling the events that happened 2 years ago. "They just suddenly broke into our house and totally trashed the place. Plus, the people thought that I was the assassin, so the empress sent me to the arena as a death sentence."

"So that explains why the guards were chasing you," Mike says. "Because you wanted to escape."

"Not only that," I say. "I want to avenge my parents by travelling all the way to the Empire Capital to face the empress."

"You're going to kill her?" Mike asks.

"Uh . . ." Now that is something I'm not so sure of. Is it really right for me to just go and kill the empress for my family's sake? "W-well, getting blamed for something that I didn't do is wrong, so I must confront her to clear my name." I think that's a better way to phrase it.

"Oh," Mike says, slowly as he and Clarisse exchange glances at each other. "Okay, that's fine. Well then, why don't you and Clarisse have some fun together. My daughter's been longing for a play date."

Clarisse brightens and hugs her father. "Thank you, Daddy! Oh, can she stay for the night, too?"

"Of course," Mike replies. "Since she has no place to sleep, she can stay as long as she likes."

"Hooray!" She jumps up and down with excitement like a puppy and turns to me. "Let's go, Scarlett!" First, we need to get you changed! Come on, I'll lead you to my room!"

Clarisse quickly runs up stairs as I follow her. I take a quick glance at my tattered clothing. Yup, I definitely need changing because this clothing is getting worn out. We get to the end of the hallway as Clarisse opens the door and I'm greeted by a pink colored bedroom. There were little dolls here and there, stuffed animals on top of the bed, a small table with fake tea cups and tea pots on it with 2 teddy bears sitting by it. There's even a small window with pink curtains flowing with the wind.

"So," Clarisse says as she spins around. "How do you like it?"

"It's . . . amazing," I reply, continuing to look at the room in awe. "Did your parents decorate this?"

"Mm-hmm!" the blonde replies. "Mom did most of the work, but I got to choose what color my room would be. So I chose pink because that's my favorite color." She opens her closet and scans for some cloths for me to wear. She picks out a black T-shirt with a matching skirt. "Is this okay with you?"

I examine it a bit and then shake my head. "No. I like the skirt, though, so keep that."

"Okay, then," Clarisse says, cheerfully as she sets down the skirt and hangs up the shirt. She picks out a red T-shirt with a flower printed on it. "How about this?"

I shake my head again. "No, I would look too childish, no offense."

"Non taken," Clarisse says. "My father actually got this for me, so it would look silly on me at times."

I giggle. "It will look cute on you, but it will look silly on me. I mean, I'm 16 now. I can wear whatever I want."

"I know what you mean," Clarisse laughs.

After about a few more tries, I finally pick out a dark yellow long-sleeved shirt to go with the skirt and black knee-high socks. When I put them on, I look at myself in the mirror and smile. I feel good as new. I then look at Clarisse, who is also smiling.

"It looks great on you, Scarlett!" she says, happily.

"Thank you," I reply softly.

After that's settled, she and I begin our play date. Clarisse showed me her favorite things, like playing with the dolls, listening to music and reading books. Then, both of us played tea party with the two teddy bears as our "dates". We spent most of the time doing that and had a lot of fun. Later on, it was lunchtime. Clarisse wanted to help her father make grilled cheese sandwiches, so she did. I, however, stood by and watched for a bit. I never actually had grilled cheese sandwiches before, so I wonder what they will taste like. It took about 15 minutes to make them.

Once it's ready, Mike serves us the sandwiches and all of us take a seat at the table. I take a whiff at the sandwich in front of me. Mm! It smells delicious! After saying Grace, the three of us start eating. I take a bite of the sandwich and my eyes widen in amazement. I never knew that a grilled cheese sandwich would taste this good! Clarisse giggles at my reaction while her father just smiles. When we are finished, Clarisse takes me upstairs to play some more. The play date lasted for the rest of the afternoon. To be honest, I never really had a play date before, or have I? Wow! I'm really drawing a blank here. Anyway, I think my play date with Clarisse is one of the best times I've had.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Mike asks one night. Clarisse and I are setting up everything for bed tonight and Mike is just checking up on us to make sure we're all right.

"Yes," I say. "We'll be fine. Right, Clarisse?"

The blonde nods as she brushes her hair. "Yes. We'll definitely be fine, Daddy. Don't worry."

"Okay," Mike says. "If you ever need anything, just ask me."

"Okay," Clarisse and I say in unison.

As soon as Mike closes the door, I turn to Clarisse.

"Thank you for letting me sleep over," I say.

She smiles as she puts down her brush. "Oh, no problem. It's the least we could do. After all, I'm glad I asked my father."

I set up the sleeping bag and start to lay down. "Tell your father I said thank you. You've been the nicest people I've ever met."

Clarisse smiles as she giggles. "Thanks. I'll be sure to tell Daddy that." She reaches for the lamp. "Well, good-night, Scarlett."

"Good-night," I reply.

As soon as she turns off the lamp, both of us fall fast asleep.

Later that evening, while the leaves are quietly rustling in the wind, I find myself tossing and turning. I can't seem to sleep very well and I know the reason why. I'm having a nightmare. But this time, it's just a series of flashbacks of how the empress's men broke in, my parents getting killed while trying to protect me and then getting blamed for all of it. Suddenly, the flashbacks stop and I find myself in an empty space. There's absolutely nothing around except darkness. I stand up and look around, hearing little voices that I can't make out. Just then, I see a white glowing figure that happens to be my mom and then, my father beside her. They were smiling at me like they used to in the old days. I slowly reach out to them, but my hand goes right through them. Were they spirits or something? My parents continue to smile at me as they slowly start to drift away.

"Wait!" I call out to them, but they don't seem to hear me. They continue to move away from me, even further than before. I start to run after them, but something is holding me back. I look down and find that there are chains strapped to my feet. Then, another pair of chains come out of nowhere and strap themselves on to my wrists! Who did this? I look back to my parents, who are so far away that I can barely see them.

"No!" I plead as I can feel a few tears stream down my face. "Please! Come back!" It's no use. They continue to drift away until they are out of sight. The chains force my arms up in the air as I try to struggle to get free. Just then, another white glowing figure appears and fades in front of me. I realize that it' the empress.

I glare at her. "You! Why are you here!? Why did you kill my parents!? Why did you blame me for all of it!? What did you want from me!?"

The empress doesn't answer as she draws out her sword and points it at me.

"Answer me, you fool!" I shout at her.

Again, she doesn't say anything as she just chuckles softly and raises her sword. My eyes widen as I knew what's going to happen next. Just as the empress takes a swing at me, I rise from my bed, awakening from the dream. Breathing heavily, I take a look around the room. Suddenly, there's someone beside me, giving me a worried look. I realize that it's Clarisse, who has her hair down.

"Are you okay?" she whispers.

I try to avoid contact with her because she was uncomfortably close to me, but I manage to mutter, "I'm fine."

Clarisse doesn't seem convinced. "It looked like you were having a bad dream."

Darn! She caught me!

"Was it . . . about your family?" she asks, still giving me the worried expression.

I hesitate before saying, "Yes." I actually never had a dream like that before.

The room is silent again for 30 seconds before Clarisse whispers, "Do you want to sleep with me?"

"Huh?" I say, surprised.

"My bed has enough room for 2 people," she reasons. "If it's not a problem for you . . ."

"No, no," I say. "I'll sleep with you." Though, it may be a little awkward sleeping together.

Once I get in Clarisse's bed, she snuggles close to me for some reason. I find myself blush a little before moving an inch away from her.

"Um, th-thank you for letting me sleep next to you," I manage to say.

'Oh, no problem." Clarisse whispers. "It's like having a big sister in the house."

Big sister? "How old are you, Clarisse?"

"I'm ten," she replies. "Since you're 6 years older than me, I consider you my big sister. " She puts an arm around me. "Besides, I can no longer be alone when I'm asleep."

I can just imagine her smiling in the darkness, so I smile as well. "I'm glad." I start to close my eyes when Clarisse whispers, "Scarlett?"

I open my eyes to notice her giving me a concerned expression. "Yes, what is it?" I ask.

"Are you really going to kill the empress?" she asks. "Somehow, I have the feeling that it's wrong."

My eyes avoid contact with her for a bit. Clarisse does have a point there, but what else am I supposed to do? "Like I said earlier," I reply. "I'm going to confront her to clear my name. Besides, there's no way I'll be able to prove my innocence. What the empress did 2 years ago was cruel."

Clarisse frowns. "I agree with you on that. But I want you to know something: regardless of the situation, you must try to forgive her. The empress may have done something so bad that you want to kill her, but does _that _do you any good?"

I stay silent as I listen to each word Clarisse is saying.

"Promise me, Scarlett," she continues. "Whatever happens, go on your journey to seek justice, not revenge." She starts to close her eyes. "I don't know what will happen if you . . . become a killer . . ." And with that, she falls asleep.

As I take in all the information into my head, I gaze at the sleeping girl. Justice, huh? Will I be able to spare the empress's life after what she's done? If I kill her, what will happen then? Still, I have to clear my name and avenge my family. This is something I have to think about while traveling to the Empire Capital. For now, I must keep Clarisse's promise. I put my hand gently on her head and whisper, "I promise."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I hope everyone likes this chapter. I worked hard on this one. And . . . I kind of want your opinion on Scarlett's decision. Should she kill the empress or not? And give out some reasons if you want. Anyways, feel free to give out any suggestions, questions or concerns and don't forget to review! ;)**


	4. The Letter

**Chapter 4**

**The Letter**

So far, I've been staying at Clarisse's place for about 3 days now. I'm starting get used to living in this down and people are starting to being nice to me. Since Clarisse showed them how kind I was, people didn't think I was a threat and allowed me to do whenever I wanted to do. But I still have to travel to the Empire Capital, so I have to think about when I should leave this town.

That afternoon, after eating lunch, Mike is going over a list that he's writing down for some reason. I look over at him from the couch in curiosity as he taps his pencil on the table and then writing something down.

"Do you need any help, Mike?" I ask.

"Hm?" He looks up and notices me on the couch observing. "Ah, no. Thanks anyway, Scarlett. I'm just writing a list of things we need at the market because we're getting low on food." Then, he brightens. "Hey! Maybe you could be of some assistance and pick up the food."

"Sure," I say, accepting the offer. I've been shopping with my parents before, so this should be no problem.

"Excellent," He hands me the list with some cash. "All of the food should be available according to that list. If not, that's okay, but I'm pretty sure they have it."

"Oh, oh!" Clarisse jumps up and down while raising her hand like a little puppy. "Can I go with her? She might need some help, right?"

Mike rubs his chin as he frowns. "I don't know . . ."

"No need to worry," I assure him with a smile. "I'll be there to protect her if anything goes wrong."

"Alright," Mike says. "Clarisse can go with you. But you two better not cause any trouble."

"We won't," both of us say. With that, we leave the house.

We arrive at the market in 10 minutes since it's only a few blocks away. The market seems to be really crowded today, so it might take a while to get all the food. We enter the store and begin the search. The first thing on the list is a can of tomato sauce. Clarisse points to an isle where there are a lot of canned food, so we go there and find the tomato sauce. Next on the list is some cheese and bread. I bet it's for the grilled cheese sandwiches I like so much. We immediately go to the cheese isle and grab cheddar cheese. Then we go to the bread section and take some white bread also. We continue the routine of looking at the list and searching for the food. After about a half an hour, we got all the food we needed. After paying for the products, Clarisse and I leave the store with smiles on our faces. I can't believe we've accomplished this without a problem.

As we walk out of the store, we see a group of kids on the sidewalk laughing. It turns out to be a trio of boys probably about Clarisse's age, pointing and laughing at her. Why would they do that?"

She turns to me and says, "I get bullied a lot by those guys at school. I don't know they would come here alone."

Those guys came here alone? Where are their parents? Why isn't anyone watching them? "I don't understand. Why are they here without their parents or anyone else watching them?"

"I don't know," Clarisse admits. "But all I know is that they like to fool around with people's property and take their money."

"Well, let's see if we can get past them, unnoticed," I suggest.

She nods and both of us quietly start to walk past the boys. However, one of them grabs hold of the groceries and dumps them on the sidewalk.

"Oops," the boy teases. "My hand just slipped!"

I glare at him. "Hey! That was our groceries! And you totally ruined them!"

"So what?" the other boy with blonde hair says. "We can do whatever we want." He walks up to Clarisse and grabs the money from her pocket. "For example, we can take your money whenever we want to."

I look around to notice that no one is noticing or even paying attention to what's going on here. Cowards!

"Give it back!" Clarisse pleads as she helplessly tries to take backt the money. "It's for my father! Please give it back!"

"Go ahead and try me," the blonde boy says.

I finally can't stand watching this horrible scene, so I stomp over and quickly grab his wrist from behind. "Give the money back or else," I growl as I squeeze his wrist tightly.

The blonde haired boy looked like he had seen a monster, so he drops the money and runs off, along with the others.

I sigh in relief as both Clarisse and I help each other pick up the mess. As I look at the young girl, her expression seems sad for some reason. I kneel down in front of her and say, "Are you alright? What's the matter?"

"I wish I could be strong like you," Clarisse answers. "You were like a big sister protecting her sibling and pretty brave, too. No one could stand up against those boys." She looks down at the ground. "I envy you, Scarlett. I'm just an ordinary girl while you are a brave sword-fighter, willing to protect anyone in need."

I frown at her. "That's not true," I protest.

Clarisse gasps and looks up at me.

"You _can_ be strong and brave like me," I explain. "You just have o believe in yourself and have self-confidence. I used to be small and weak just like you when I was your age, but my parents always taught me to stand up for myself and act strong and brave when others try to bully me. The same goes for you, Clarisse. If you work on staying strong and believing in yourself, you'll indeed become strong and brave."

The young girl smiles. "Thank you, Scarlett. I feel much better."

"Good," I say as I smile back. "Now then, let's go back home."

"Yes," Clarisse agrees.

Both of us walk back to the house and Mike felt very happy that the two of us got back safely. After spending about 15 minutes of helping each other with the groceries, I start to follow Clarisse upstairs when her father calls me.

"Yes, what is it?" I ask, standing in the middle of the stairs.

"This was in the mail," He hands me an envelope with "**Kathy**" printed on it. "I don't know why it's in there, but it could be a surprise."

"I'm sure it will," I agree. "Thanks, Mike."

"No problem," he says.

With that, I run upstairs.

"Huh?" Clarisse questions. "A letter from someone named Kathy?"

"Yes," I reply. "Apparently, it was in the mail and your father didn't know why. But he said that it could be surprising once we open it."

"Yeah!" Clarisse says cheerfully. "Maybe this Kathy could be a new friend or something."

"Let's find out," I proceed to open the paper and start to read with Clarisse beside me.

Suddenly, both of our eyes widen in shock. Apparently, this girl is no friend and is instead a threat! What we read in the letter is:

_"Scarlett,_

_Come fight me if you can! We'll meet in the middle of down tonight! If you don't . . . you'll suffer the consequences. See you then._

_Kathy_


	5. Kidnapped!

**Chapter 5**

**Kidnapped!**

I can't believe what I just read. Some girl named Kathy sent a "letter of challenge" to me, meaning whenever someone wants to pick a fight, they send a letter to challenge that person. I've heard of that term for a long time and I never got any of those before. I remember my father receiving the Letter of Challenge many times since some people want to spar with him. But I just don't know why people would send those types of letters in the first place. Anyway, I have to settle things out with this mysterious girl.

"So," Clarisse says. "This girl, Kathy, wants to challenge you?"

"Apparently, yes," I reply. "But the question is: why?"

"I don't know," Clarisse says, timidly. "But that letter scares me."

"I must face her," I say with determination. ""Whoever this Kathy is, I'm going to strike her down!"

"What?" Clarisse says, surprised.

"If I don't, what will happen?" I reason. "Something might happen to one of you guys and I'll never forgive myself if it does." My eyes look down at the floor. "You're one of the kindest people I know."

There is silence for a bit as both of us say nothing. Just then, Clarisse speaks up. "You'll protect us, right?" she says.

I look up at her. "Huh?"

"You're a strong and brave sword-fighter," she reminds me. "You'll be able to take her on easily, right?"

I shake my head. "I'm not so sure how well she fights. Sure I've been fighting for 2 years, but will I be well matched against her? I never actually saw her before either. What could she want with me?"

"Clarisse!" Mike calls. "Time to take out the trash!"

"Okay, I'm coming," Clarisse calls back. She turns to me. "It'll just be a moment. Feel free to play with the dolls or something.

I nod as she gets up and leaves the room. I take a look around a bit before standing up. I look out the window and see that it's nearly dark. Something catches my eye on Clarisse's desk, so I approach it, only to notice a picture of Clarisse's mom. Under the picture frame is a small chest that's locked. I wonder what valuable thing Clarisse is keeping under that picture. But I remind myself that it's rude to look through someone's private property, so I decide to leave it alone for now and ask Clarisse for information.

CRASH!

A loud noise makes me jump in surprise. I turn and run downstairs to see what's going on. At first, I could see nothing until I see that the front door is open. I run outside and look around to find Mike standing beside toppled trash cans and having a panicked look on his face. Before I can even ask, he quickly turns to me and puts his hands on my shoulders.

"Help!" He panics. "You have to find my daughter! She's been kidnapped!"

All I could do is gasp and stay frozen in shock.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Uh, oh! This could be trouble! What will happen then? Will Scarlett be able to save Clarisse? Stay tuned to find out! **

**Feel free to give out any suggestions, questions or concerns and don't forget to review! ;)**


	6. Saving Clarisse

**Chapter 6**

**Saving Clarisse**

"She's been . . . kidnapped?" I ask, still surprised that this happened so suddenly.

"Yes," Mike replies. "I don't know who took her or where she's taken to. Why would anyone want to take her? What do they want with her?"

I hesitate as I try to think who did it. Who would want ot take Clarisse? Not anyone that I know would take her. Besides, I've been staying here for three days and none of the people here are bad. Mike sinks down to his knees and looks down at the ground.

"T-this is terrible," he says as his voice shakes. "I-if anything happens to her, I-I'll never forgive myself. Oh, I should've kept watch on her."

I stand here, looking at him sympathetically. If we don't find Clarisse soon, she'll probably be dead, which I don't intend to let that happen. She's my friend and I have to save her, for Mike's sake. With determination, I walk over and put my hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry," I say. "I'll find your daughter."

"But how?" Mike questions as he looks up at me. "We don't even know who the culprit is yet."

"I think I have a pretty good idea of who had taken Clarisse and where the culprit has gone to," I say as I hold up a piece of red cloth and a gun with scattered bullets. I recalled reading The Letter of Challenge and the location that we're supposed to meet.

Mike examines the two items. "I guess the culprit dropped them when trying to take Clarisse."

"Yes," I reply. "Clarisse must have been struggling to get free while the culprit was trying to grab her. She must have dropped these while running away." I look up at him. "Come on. We have no time to lose. Can you get my sword and shield please?"

"Alright." Mike immediately stands up and gets to the coat closet where he stored my weapons. In a few seconds, he comes back with them with something extra: a long gray coat. "You might want to wear this since it's cold out." He hands me the weapons and coat.

"Thank you," I say as I glance up at the sky. "Come on. It's already dark, so we must hurry."

"Right," Mike says.

I start leading the way as both of us start to run. _Clarisse, _I think. _Please. Be safe. We're on our way._

****Normal Point of View****

Clarisse slowly opens her eyes and looks around. She finds herself tied to a wooden pole in the middle of town and underneath her is a pile of firewood that is lined up about 5 feet away from her. Once she realizes where she is, she tries to struggle to get free, but no avail. Just then, Clarisse hears footsteps come toward her. At first, she can't make out who it is because it's so dark.

"Ah, I see that you're awake," a female voice says. "Don't worry. You won't die . . . yet. I'm just waiting for a certain red-haired friend of yours."

"You mean Scarlett?" Clarisse questions.

"Yes," the figure comes out of the shadow, revealing to be a girl with long brown hair that's tied into two twin tails. She is wearing a plain whit buttoned long-sleeve shirt with a short red skirt and black socks that reach up to her thighs. She's also about the same height as Scarlett. She turns to Clarisse with a smile. "Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Kathy, protector of the empress."

"The empress?" Clarisse wonders, and then realizes something. "The woman that Scarlett's after?"

"Precisely," Kathy replies. "Only I'm here to stop her."

Clarisse's eyes widen as she recalls the Letter of Challenge she read. "So you're the girl who's wanting to fight Scarlett?"

Kathy nods. "I was ordered by the empress to capture her. I knew this wasn't going to be easy, considering how strong she is, so I came up with a plan while traveling to this town. And that plan is to kidnap you and use you as bait so Scarlett can get to me."

"How did you know where she was?" Clarisse asks.

Kathy takes out a couple of equipment from her bag and shows them to Clarisse. In her hand is a pair of binoculars and a tracking device. "I used some spy gear to track her down. You see, I'm not only a warrior, but a spy agent as well. The empress thought I was very useful for those types of things, so she hired me as her protector. Now that I got you as bait, I'm awaiting Scarlett's arrival."

Clarisse glances at the firewood underneath her. "Wh-what are you going to do with me?" she asks, afraid of what she'll hear for an answer.

"Oh, that?" Kathy grins evilly as she pulls out one of her guns from her gun strap and lightly presses it against Clarisse's head. "Well, I told her she'll suffer the consequences if she doesn't show up. So, I'm deciding whether I should shoot you or burn you to death. What's your pick?"

Clarisse hesitates as she starts trembling.

"Hm? No answer?" Kathy asks. "Oh, well. I guess I'll pick then. Burning you to death should be slow and painful, right?"

"Not if Scarlett comes and kills you first," Clarisse shoots back at her.

Kathy rolls her eyes. "Oh, please," she scoffs. "Do you really think that red-haired witch is going to save you before you're burned to a crisp? Besides, I'm sure she'll be kept busy while I'm fighting her. She won't stand a chance against me." She loads up her gun. "Well, then, I think we should get started." She goes over and picks up a match from her bag, lights it, and tosses it to the edge of the pile. A small fire starts appearing.

"There," Kathy says, happily. "It won't be long before it starts spreading."

"You can't do this!" Clarisse cries. "Let me go! Please!"

Kathy shakes her head. "In your dreams. The party's just begun." She throws a few more matches on the pile, making multiple small flames in every direction. "This should make things more interesting."

As Clarisse stares at the fire, she shuts her eyes tightly as she thinks, _Please, Scarlett! Please make it before it's too late!_

****Scarlett's Point of View****

Mike and I run as fast as we can to reach Clarisse. He told me that the middle of town has a huge fountain, so we should be able to get there. However, I keep having the feeling that we're on a time limit, so I urge Mike to run faster so that we could get to Clarisse in time. I hope, just hope that she's going to be okay.

We pass through many houses and streets with people looking at us like "What the heck is going on?" We ignore them as Mike and I keep on running. Just a few more blocks until we get to our destination. Suddenly, I stop and take a sniff in the air.

"Mike!" I call out. "Stop for a second! Do you smell that?"

The brown haired man stops, but ends up slipping and falling on his butt. He, too, takes a sniff. "Is something burning?" Just then, he stands up immediately with his eyes widening in shock. "Oh, shoot! Don't tell me that Clarisse is getting burned to death!"

"Well, we have to hurry before she does!" I shout. "Come on!" I quickly sprint in the process with Mike following close behind.

In just a few minutes, we get to our destination, but find that there's a crowd gathered around. We push our way through these people and finally find Clarisse tied to a wooden pole, surrounded by fire.

Clarisse sees us and cries, "Daddy! Daddy! Save me!"

Just then, a girl with long light brown hair, tied into two twin tails turns around.

"Well, well, well," she says. "The red-haired warrior finally shows up . . . with a little help of course."

"Clarisse!" Mike calls out. "Don't worry! I'll get you out!" He starts to run to save her, but the twin tailed girl pulls out a gun and points it at him.

"Not so fast!" she says. "One more step and she's done for." She then points the gun at Clarisse, who is in tears.

I glare at the girl. "Hey! Are you Kathy, the one who sent me the letter?"

She nods. "Yes. I am Kathy, protector of the empress."

The empress? "You work for her!?" I question. Why hadn't I realized that?

"Indeed I do work for the empress," Kathy replies. "She hired me as her protector after she saw how good I am with weapons. I'm also a spy agent, if you didn't already know. I tracked you down with a couple of my spy gear, such as my trusty binoculars and tracking device, and thought I could use this little girl as bait so that you could get to me. I couldn't believe how easy that was."

I stare at her, wide eyed. She's been setting me up this whole time?

"Now you have a choice, Scarlett," Kathy says as she points her gun at Clarisse. "Surrender or let this girl die." She stops and turns around to notice Mike trying to sneak in to save Clarisse. "Hey! I told you not to interfere, you fool!" She loads her gun and pulls the trigger. BANG! BANG! Within moments, Mike slowly falls face down to the ground, unconscious. I don't know where she shot him, but those shots could be fatal.

"Daddy!" Clarisse cries. "Daddy! Are you alright!?"

The crowd seemed be shocked as well as they murmur some things to each other. I stare at the unconscious man before angrily turning to Kathy.

"You filthy, twin tailed witch!" I growl. "I'm going to make you pay for that!" I quickly draw out my sword and shield and get into my battle position. "No one hurts this family! NO ONE!"

"I can do whatever I want," Kathy says, calmly as she puts her gun in her gun strap and draws out two sabers. "And so, the battle begins."

"Bring it on," I say, coldly as I wave my sword a little. "I'll make sure to end this quickly."

"Oh, really?" Kathy grins evilly at me. "It's my duty to protect the empress . . . with my life."

I start lunging at her with my sword, but Kathy blocks my attack by making her sabers form a shape of an X. I bounce back a little after trying to attack her by force and she quickly leaps into the air while raising her sword. I quickly react by blocking her attack with my shield. Then, I parry a few of her attacks before dive rolling to the right and slashing her left arm in the process. She quickly turns around and tries striking at me, only to get parried again. So she leaps a few feet in the air, spins like a tornado in midair and slashes my right arm hard. I groan in pain as Kathy performs a roundhouse kick to my face. I stumble to the ground, but quickly stand up. The crowd starts cheering.

"Ha, ha!" Kathy chuckles. "See the crowd? They're here for me!"

I try lunging at her again, only to get kicked hard in the back while jumping in the air. I fall to the ground, feeling severe pain on my back and chest. Kathy is about to strike me with her sword, but I roll near her feet, making her trip and fall in an instant. The crowd cheers once more.

Kathy growls as she quickly jumps to her feet and takes a few steps back while twirling her sword in the opposite direction. As she comes at me to slash me, I jump over her and kick her on the head, making her fall face down on the ground. As I land and turn around Kathy gets to her feet. Both of us charge at each other and clash our swords together.

As we struggle, I stare at her with a cold expression. "Give it up, Kathy. You'll never win."

"Do you think you can defeat me?" Kathy growls. "YOU'RE NOTHING!" With a quick motion, she pushes my sword out of the way and kicks me hard in the chest, making me fly a few feet in the air and land on my back hard. The crowd becomes shocked, followed by a bunch of "OH!"'s

As I struggle to stand, Kathy jumps in the air with both her swords pointing right at me. I quickly react by rolling away and get right to my feet. However, once I'm all the way up, I hear a gunshot and feel something sting on my leg. I look down and notice a bullet wound on my right leg. I wince in pain as I look up at Kathy, who has a gun in her hand.

She playfully blows at the end of her weapon. "It's all about experience. That is something you cannot understand." She puts her gun away, get out her other saber and charges at me.

I quickly dive roll away, but can still feel the pain on my leg. Man, does she really have to do that? It's so unfair! I slowly get back to my feet and face Kathy. She raises her saber upward and tries to hit me by swinging down diagonally, only I dodge it in time. She quickly spins to the right 360 degrees and tries to hit me that way. I dodge it with ease. Then, she tries to kick me by performing a sidekick. I dodge it in time and dive roll under her. I swing my sword and leave a cut on her back. Kathy groans as she turns around. She jumps and spins in mid-air again and tries to hit me with her saber. I block her attack with my shield. However, she manages to slide to my right and trip me with her leg. I fall on my back and quickly block her attack with my sword when she tried to strike me down. We struggle for a few seconds until I kick her in the chest, sending her flying 10 feet in the air and land face down on the ground. The crowd cheers loudly.

I slowly stand up, still feeling pain on my leg. As I ready my weapon, Kathy slowly starts to get up, too. I notice a couple of bruises on her body, plus a few rips on her socks, too. I, on the other hand, have a few bruises and cuts here and there, plus the bullet wound on my leg. I can't tell who's injured more, but I'm feeling that I'm going to win. Or so I thought.

Kathy slowly gets to her feet as she starts to whisper, "Good." She looks up at me with a very angry expression and raises her voice, "But _FAR _from enough!"

I gasp as Kathy lunges at me with her sword, in which I dodge in time. But she suddenly spins and kicks me hard in the chest. She also hits me with her hilt, which hurts even more. I drop to both knees and put both hands on the ground as I breathe heavily from exhaustion. Kathy kicks me once more, making me fall face down on the ground, not being able to move a little. As I raise my head, I notice Kathy smiling as she raises one of her sabers high in the air.

"Long live the empress!" she declares.

I groan in pain as I slowly turn to Clarisse, who is nearly getting burned. I can clearly see tears streaming down her face. The fire slowly spreads even more around her as she starts crying. I then look over to Mike, who is still unconscious. _No, _I think. _I have to save her! She'll die if I don't! I will not let Kathy win this battle!_ Summoning all my strength, I get to my feet and ready my weapon.

"Bring it on!" I shout.

Kathy turns and grins evilly at me. The crowd stars cheering as we charge at each other. Kathy tries to slash me, but I quickly parry her attack and swiftly kick her in the chest. Then, I perform a roundhouse kick to the face, making her fall to the ground. She quickly gets up and blocks my attack while trying to hit her with my sword. She pushes it out of the way and ties to hit me by spinning 360 degrees. I, however, raise my shield to block her attack, roll around her and slash her arm again, leaving another huge cut. She groans as she slowly turns around. I parry her next attack before kicking her in the face again, making her stumble back a little, feeling quite dizzy. I use this opportunity to bash her with my shield.

"Ah . . . ohhhh . . . ." Kathy groans as she stumbles back a few more steps, dropping her swords in the process and falls to the ground, unconscious. One . . . two . . . three . . .

I relax my stance as I raise my weapon high. "Hmph!" I say. "I won't be defeated!" The crowd cheers wildly for my victory. But it's not over yet.

"Hurry!" a man shouts. "Somebody get a bucket and fill it with water from the fountain!"

I quickly turn around and notice that the fire is just inches away from Clarisse's feet. Oh, no! There's not much time left! Within minutes, she'll be dead! With a quick motion, I leap in the air and grab a bucket that's hanging next to a store and leap back to the fountain. I scoop up a bunch of water from its base and chuck it at the fire. The flames clear out within seconds. Clarisse sighs in relief as the crowd cheers again. I quickly leap behind the pole and cut the rope with my sword, setting her free. She then runs over to Mike and tries to shake him awake.

"Daddy!" she pleads. "Wake up! Please wake up!"

No response.

Clarisse looks at him in shock. "D-Daddy? Please wake up." She looks like she's about to cry.

I stare at her in worry for a moment. Is he really dead? Did Kathy really kill him? Just then, I hear groaning from Mike. I take a few steps closer to see him lift his arm up and stroking Clarisse's hair. I smile as I sigh in relief. Thank goodness he's still alive.

"D-Daddy?" Clarisse says, still having tears in her eyes. "Are you really alright?"

"Yes, honey," her father says, gently. "I'm okay."

Clarisse starts to sob as she jumps into his arms and hugs him. He hugs her back as the crowd starts applauding, not only for them, but for me. I can already tell that they are glad that I saved Clarisse in time. I'm also glad that she and Mike are still alive. I have so much to say to them when I leave tomorrow.


	7. The Beginning of a Journey

**Chapter 7**

**The Beginning of a Journey**

The next morning, I stand outside of Clarisse's house with my weapons safely strapped in. A lot happened after my battle with Kathy. First, she got arrested for kidnapping a child and holding her captive while trying to burn her. Second, it turned out that Mike was only shot in the arm and leg, so there were no serious injuries involved. Lastly, I had told them that I was leaving to start my journey starting tomorrow to the Empire Capital. But Clarisse looked like she didn't want me to leave, so she runs over and hugs me.

"Please!" she pleads. "Stay a little longer!"

I hug her back as I say gently, "I'm sorry. But it's time for me to go. I promise I'll come visit you someday."

She lets go and looks up at me. "At the very least, let me give you something." She runs upstairs to her room. After a few seconds, she comes back with a dark brown pendant in her hand. "I want you to have this. It's from my mom before she passed away. She would always wear this this as a good luck charm, so when she passed away, I kept this locked in a chest under her picture frame so that it reminds me of her."

I smile as I accept Clarisse's gift. So that's what was in the small chest. "Thank you. I'll be sure to wear this at all times."

"Here," Clarisse says. "Let me put it on for you."

"Okay," I keel down to her level and she proceeds to put the pendant around my neck.

"There!" she says, happily. "All done!"

I giggle as I stand up to face Mike. He smiles at me as he puts out his hand.

"Be safe on your journey, Scarlett," he says. "It was nice meeting you."

I gently grip his hand as I smile back. "It was nice meeting you, too. I enjoyed playing with your daughter for the last three days. It was a lot of fun."

"I'm glad," he says. "Well then, are you ready to begin your journey?"

I nod. "Mm-hmm. I guess this is it." I turn to leave, but not before waving the two good-bye.

I start to walk away when Clarisse calls my name. I turn to her saying, "Hmm?"

"Remember," she says. "Go on your journey to seek justice, not revenge!"

I wink at her as I give her a thumbs up. "I'll be sure to remember that."

Clarisse giggles as she continues to wave at me. I wave back at the family as I take my leave. And so, I begin my long journey to the Empire Capital to face the empress.


	8. Part 2 Coming Soon

**Author's Note**

**Hello, everyone. If you're reading this, you reached the end of Part 1 of Scarlett. I'll do Part 2 soon, depending on my schedule. Thanks so much for reading this story so far and the reviews. It means so much to me and I hope to get more. Yeah, it's gonna be a very long journey for Scarlett it seems, so it might take a lot of thinking about each location Scarlett will be on. Anyways, thanks again and I hope to see you all soon!  
><strong>

**YuriFan300**


End file.
